Thursday July 20 2017 Loch Lomond
We had a delicious buffet breakfast at The Lodge on Loch Lomond. Yes, it sure seems like the Wetteraus and Canfields are eating and drinking our way through Europe! After breakfast, we took a 90-minute boat cruise on the Loch (pronounced "lockghghghghghgh"). It is breathtakingly beautiful in this area, and we all loved the relaxing cruise. The cruise included a narrative by our captain about the history and interesting facts of the Loch. With the captain's strong Scottish accent, we only understood every 3rd word or so, but were able to come away with some understanding of the Loch Lomond area. Loch Lomond is part of Trossachs National Park and is Britain's largest body of inland water at 22 miles long.
After the Loch boat cruise, we drove to Balloch, which is about 8 miles away from Luss toward Glasgow. We walked the Balloch Castle Country Park trail to the castle. The castle estate's grounds are actually the park. The castle itself is located at the high point of the trail and has not yet been refurbished. The grounds are well kept and we all enjoyed the view from a bench outside the castle while listening to the sleep-inducing sound of large lawnmowers manicuring the grounds (which looked like golf course grass!).
Dinner was at the fancy restaurant at the Lodge, again with our breathtaking view of the Loch. We walked back to Luss to allow ourselves to indulge in a delicious dessert at the Village Rest. Somehow, again, John and Blaine won the game of Spades. Wow, Scotland really loves these guys--and vice versa! The men are the Spades Champions in Scotland, but Reid and Jeri were undefeated in the rest of the UK :-)
